Betrayal of the 1st Degree (Evangelion version)
by QCppg
Summary: With the beginning of a third World War close at hand, NERV must decide which side to fight on. When nuclear war is imminent even the most closed-minded people may change place! Rated R for language and violence.
1. Colonel Drake's secret agenda

Body

**"Betrayal of the 1st Degree"**

(N.G. Evangelion "B" version [subversion])

**By Q.C. of {PpG}**

This fic has been rated R for content.

1st draft completion date: June 19, 2001 

Final release date: June 21, 2001 

Current revision number: 1 

Finally, the moment you've all been waiting for: The return of the awesome BM-25 "Timber Wolf" nuclear attack mecha! After facing down the Russian army and the MechWarrior mercenaries, let's see how well it fares in the post-apocalyptic world of Evangelion! Let's get this damn thing on the road... 

********************** 

Intro to some new C-Division characters: 

This is one of my fics after all, so of course it involves C-Division. In addition to Jake Anderson this story adds two new characters to the lineup. Colonel Drake is the liaison between C-Division and NERV, and is played by William Davis (who is the Cigarette-Smoking Man from the X-Files). Also is his lackey Major Adams, who is played by Arnold Schwartzenegger (I hope I spelled that right). That's all for now, here's the fucking fic! 

********************** 

Ever since the Second Impact the world had been a very different place. After the ice caps melted and all coastal cities had become underwater ruins nationalists had faced their worst nightmare when the UN came to power. Now fifteen years after the Second Impact war seemed obsolete as preservation of the human race and the battles against the Angels took priority. However this was not so as there were still ultra-nationalists in various governments around the world, as NERV was about to find out... 

Things were going fairly normally around NERV headquarters itself, as no Angels had attacked lately and nothing else major was going on. It looked like the day was going to go without any incident when suddenly... 

"What the?" Maya suddenly said when her panel fizzed for a second. Misato who was in charge at the time walked up. 

"What's going on?" 

"My screen went out for a second, wait! I've just picked up a huge explosion over Moscow, I'm not sure what it was but it wasn't a N2 mine." 

"How can you be sure of that? What do you think just happened?" 

"Well judging by the readings on the magnitude of the explosion and the radiation levels it must've been a hydrogen bomb! Why would anyone want to..." 

"This is just too wired... I mean is someone _trying_ to start a war or what? 

******************** 

"Betrayal in the 1st Degree" N.G. Evangelion "B" version, chapter 1 

By QC of MagSys and it's ADF 

******************** 

"Just before the Second Impact the Americans had made a failed attempt to conquer the world which was code named 'Operation World War 3.' In that attack they used a sort of confined-effect thermonuclear weapon to destroy the Kremlin in Moscow. There were no large-scale hydrogen bombs fired in that operation because less than a week after the attack on Moscow the Second Impact occurred. Very little is known about the attack except that it revolved around a secret weapon code named 'Timber Wolf,' which was manufactured by American weapon manufacturer Leviathan Arms. The file on Timber Wolf, as well as the one on a secret group known as C-Division are the only two files in the entire American government which we have no access to. The reason I'm telling you this is because we believe that one or more American ultra-nationalists with high positions in their government are attempting to start World War 3 again. The MAGI give a 75% probability that this is in fact the case, and 99% that if World War 3 does start that the Timber Wolf will be used in combat again." Ritsuko said to the rest of the people in the command center. 

"As far as we know it's a new, supposedly experimental, warfare system with at least some of it gleaned from technology the American's confiscated from us after the attack on Chicago. The weapons platform itself is centered around a two legged mecha powered by a self sufficient generator. Initial estimates predict that it's only weapon is a short range nuclear missile launcher and some experimental armor that's slightly resistant to our N2 mine technology. It's just the Americans building big things that don't work right." Gendo added. He knew this was a lie, but he wasn't about to tell everyone the truth! 

"So what do we do about it?" Misato asked. 

"Nothing for now, at least not until we have reason to believe that the Americans are actually trying to start another world war. Now return to your posts and do your jobs as usual unless I order otherwise! Dismissed!" 

******************** 

"I can't believe that Commander Ikari just ordered us to ignore something this big! I mean the MAGI did say that it was 75% likely that there was going to be a war." Misato said to Dr. Akagi while walking back to the command center from Gendo's office. 

"Commander Ikari is in charge, but I agree this is ridiculous. Someone dropped a thermonuclear bomb on the Russian capitol city. This could only mean that they are trying to start a total war. If they just wanted to destroy the Russian capitol then a N2 mine would have been more than enough." 

"Yeah. I just hope we're not next..." 

******************* 

Meanwhile Gendo was sitting in his office reading through a stolen American file that was marked with the words "X-File" and a label on the tab that read "Project Timber Wolf, declassified data. X-File number #224728" when his telephone rang. He closed the file, placed it in his desk and answered the phone with a simple "What?" 

"I think you know who this is and if you're smart you won't hang up on me. I trust you heard about the hydrogen bomb attack on Moscow, or did we knock out your surveillance with that blast?" a man with a New England accent asked. 

"Who is this and what do you want?" 

"Who I am doesn't matter. What I have to say is of paramount importance. You have three hours to decide weather you live or die. You side with Japan and the Liberty Alliance you live. You side with the UN and their dumbass policies and you die. I'll call in three hours and you'd better answer right!" the man said. He almost immediately hung up the phone. 

"Hello? Damn." Gendo put the phone back on the hook and leaned back in his seat. _Three hours..._

__"Sir, Colonel Drake's here to see you..." Fuyutsuki said over the intercom. 

"Let him in." The door slid open and a tall man wearing a black trench coat adorned only by an American flag patch on the right shoulder. He pulled a cigarette out of his pocket, which he lit before walking up to Gendo's desk. 

"I trust you got our call? I know you plan on agreeing with our plan, that was just for the spies." the tall man said. 

"I understood that, and that's why I put on the act of surprise. Anything else?" 

"Yes. I've liquidated your colleagues from the UN. I'm also giving you unrestricted access to all materials needed for the Human Instrumentality Project, but only as long as it's in the best interest of the US Government. The second it's no longer in our interest I'll nail you to a fucking cross, cover you in napalm and burn your bitch-ass! I hope you agree to our terms because you don't get a choice in this matter. Is that understood?" 

"Yes. Thank you Colonel Drake. Now if you don't mind I'm rather busy. Could you please go someplace else?" 

"Yes. I have more important people to kill. Good day." Drake said. He then left Gendo alone in his office. Gendo scoffed. 

"Fuyutsuki, prepare the Evas for launch... I have reason to believe that we'll be attacked shortly..." 

******************** 

Two hours later the pilots arrived at the geo front for their daily training. They were rather surprised to see everything in a bustle that they hadn't seen since the last time an Angel attacked. As they tried to find Misato to find out what was going on Shinji saw out of the corner of his eye a tall man wearing a trench coat and smoking a cigarette, a man that he'd seen talking with his father recently. Finally they found Misato, who didn't waste any time and immediately started talking... 

"Allright, the Commander has reason to believe that an attack is imminent, and has ordered for us to prepare the Evas. I want you three to go to the Cage and get suited up." she ordered. 

"Yes mam." both Shinji and Rei replied in unison... Asuka, however, wasn't so easily convinced. 

"What's the point? We haven't been attacked! Can't we do something more interesting?" 

"Orders are orders Asuka. Once you're suited up you can do as you please until the commander orders otherwise. Now get going!" 

******************** 

It hit like a meteor right out of Hell! No one knew where it came from, but something huge had just been dropped on Tokyo-III, and had leveled the entire 1st District! Alarms were going off all over the city and the Geo-front. Down in the Cage, the force of the impact was almost enough to shake the Evas out of their restraints. People were knocked off their feet, ceilings collapsed, and all-around mayhem insued... 

"Commander, I don't know what that was but it hit like we were just attacked by a N2 mine! We've got damage reports all over the City and the Geo-Front, and no reports at all from the First District." Maya yelled out. 

"Are the MAGI and the Evas intact?" Gendo demanded. 

"As far as we know... I'm getting scattered reports from the city now. That was no explosion to speak of, but there's a large cylindrical object embedded in the First District." 

"Captain Katsuragi, deploy the Evas to investigate the object. Report back anything unusual as soon as you find it." 

"Yes sir!" Misato replied before picking up the phone and dialing the Cage up... 

********************** 

Down in the Cage the pilots were just recovering from the massive shock when they got the order to get in the entry plugs immediately. Now knowing how dire the situation was they ran to the Evas without a word, boarded their entry plugs and got ready... 

"EVA LAUNCH!" Misato ordered. The Evas shot up from their launch pads to the streets above. Shinji, who was on point, waited for the sudden deceleration when the Eva reached ground level... Seconds later everything around him jerked to a halt. Now he'd been confronted by Angels within seconds of emerging, but he was unprepared for what he saw next... The entire first district was engulfed in flames, with a huge cloud of black smoke rising up to the stratosphere. Still silent, he left the socket and started toward the column of fire and smoke. Rei also was silent, but as usual Asuka felt like making a comment. 

"What the Hell happened here? Is that what that shockwave was?" 

"Yes Asuka... We're detecting a solid object in the center of that fire, we need you to figure out what it is." Misato replied. 

"_Shienza_. Very well..." She charged past Shinji and Rei, determined to get the honor of being first for herself. Within seconds she was within the wall of fire. Switching to the CT-monitor, she saw a huge cylinder, nearly three times the size of the Eva... "_Mein god_! What is that?" 

Down in Central Dogma the MAGI were hard at work trying to determine what the cylinder was. Unfortunately there was nothing like it on record. Also, it's reading was not blue, but gray, and therefore synthetic. All that came up on the large display in the command center was a large hollow cylinder with indeterminate contents. 

"What could it be? Some sort of transport?" Misato speculated. Gendo looked on, having a pretty good guess at what it was, but still not knowing what was inside. 

"Sir, we have a visual!" Maya reported. For the first time the smoke cleared enough for the cylinder to be visible, and what they saw wasn't encouraging... 

"CCCP? What is that supposed to stand for? Misato said. She thought she'd seen it in a history book but just couldn't place a finger on it... A black expression came over both Gendo and Fuyutsuki's faces. 

"CCCP is Cyrillic for USSR. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. World War 3 has done more than just started, it's over here now! Order the Evas to destroy that thing immediately!" Gendo yelled. 

"Okay, move in and attack that thing with everything you've got. You're to destroy that thing, priority one!" Misato ordered. 

******************** 

"Leave this one to me!" Asuka said quite arrogantly. 

"Misato ordered all of us to attack!" Shinji retorted. 

"But..." Asuka started to say when suddenly out of the blue several smaller versions of the giant cylinder rained down on the city. They almost immediately split open revealing a relatively small mecha armed with shoulder cannons above it's small arms. They charged towards the Evas and began to attack... 

"Multiple targets inbound, spread out and commence attack!" Rei said. She turned to face three of the short mechas, drew the progressive knife, and assumed a fighting stance. The first mecha leaped at her and fired it's cannons, which bounced harmlessly off the Eva's AT-field. Rei then backhanded the mecha, sending it flying miles out of the city! 

"This is easy!" Asuka blurted. She grabbed two of the mechas and smashed them together, sending flames shooting out of the lump of twisted metal, which she then threw at a third mecha. She threw her progressive knife at another, cleaving it in neat halves, which exploded seconds later. Shinji also joined in. He grabbed one in both hands and broke it over his Eva's knee. He kicked the last one in sight, which flew into the side of a building, pulverizing it... 

"All targets defeated." Rei muttered. 

"I can see that wondergirl, but what were they?" Asuka asked. She was hoping for an answer when a sudden explosion rocked the air. A section of the large cylinder blew off and flew across the city and landed in the mountains just beyond the edge of Tokyo-III. A pair of crimson-red clawed hands grabbed the sides of the opening on the cylinder from the dark interior. A huge red foot smashed into the ground, and a gigantic mecha pulled itself into the open air. It hesitated for a second, before turning to face the Evas... 

"Shit! That's the Alfa! Eva team move in and destroy it immediately!!!" Gendo yelled, jumping out of his seat in shock. Like the Timber Wolf he knew what it was but hadn't briefed anyone else on it. 

"Roger! Moving in for attack!" Asuka responded. She ran to the side to try to flank it, while Shinji and Rei took aim and fired their rifles at it. Their bullets just bounced off the giant mecha's armor, however. Asuka charged in, progressive knife in hand, to slash at it's side. Just before she arrived a cannon took aim and fired a 70mm slug into her Eva's chest, knocking it over like a 500-foot tall bowling pin! Another cannon took aim at Unit-01... 

"Asuka! Are you allright?" Shinji asked. He was about to move in to help when suddenly a bright red beam tore through the air at incredible speed from a small cannon on the mecha's shoulder. It smacked into the Eva's chest, and tore through the armor, the eva's body, and straight through the entry plug! It ripped through the LCL, cavitating and boiling it as it passed within an inch of Shinji's right ear, before proceeding to go through the entire backside of the Eva and shoot off into the distant unknown. The Eva collapsed like a sack of potatoes! 

"Shinji!" Rei exclaimed. She grabbed the damaged Eva and started dragging it towards the nearest elevator. Asuka started firing her rifle as she also retreated to a nearby elevator. The giant mecha had won without taking even a scratch... 

********************** 

"Eject the Entry Plug, we have to get him out of there!" Misato demanded. Eva unit-01, which was now secured in the cage, ejected it's entry plug. It was leaking LCL from a pair of holes roughly at the center and on exact opposite sides. The door opened, the LCL spilled onto the floor, and the robotic arm retrieved the seat and pilot. 

Shinji was in bad shape. His nose and right ear were bleeding, and he was totally unconscious. The shock of the bullet had given him a minor concussion, which he would easily recover from, but was still dangerous. He again was moved to the hospital and placed in a recovery capsule. The doctors said that he'd be able to work again in sixteen hours, but his hearing would take much longer to recover. 

********************* 

"According to estimates and information from our colleague from the United States the thing that attacked us was a Russian attack mecha, built before the end of the Cold War. It's armed with some sort of railgun that's capable of penetrating an AT-field, which we thought was impossible. An unconfirmed report states that the slug that was fired through the Eva penetrated the Earth's crust and emerged somewhere in Libya and still had sufficient velocity to escape the Earth's gravitational field. In any case the Russian mecha holds the entire city, we have no way to take it out as an Eva is at risk from it's railgun. Our estimates are that the Russians currently control 90% of our country. Without immediate support it's only a matter of time before they take over the Geo Front and we're finished." Ritsuko said in her usual briefing. 

"I've already taken the liberty of bringing several of our soldiers into the country. I've got 5 from E-Division to act as guards for the control room, the Cage, and the MAGI. I also brought in a young marine to act as a guard for the pilots. Her name's Jamie Sanders, and she'll accompany the pilots wherever they go until we have this situation resolved. Is that acceptable?" Drake asked, while lighting another cigarette. 

"Yes. Now if you'll excuse me I need to make a call..." Gendo replied. He got up and walked into his office. He then picked up the telephone, dialed a number and said "This is Ikari, get me General Anderson..." 

******************** 

Meanwhile Asuka and Rei had just finished changing into their normal clothes and were about to exit the locker room when they saw a girl with dark blonde hair and wearing camo fatigues leaning up against the doorframe. Asuka stepped belligerently in front of Rei and said "Move it!" 

"I'd like to see you make me. And here some baka send me to protect you two kids..." she replied, oddly enough in Japanese dispute wearing American camo! 

"And just who are you anyway?" Asuka demanded. 

"I'm Corporal Jamie Sanders. You must be Asuka Langley Soyru. I should've guessed, between your hair and your attitude..." 

"Why you..." 

"And she must be Rei Ayanami... I was briefed on you, and I seem to be stuck babysitting on you two, as well as Shinji what's-his-face once he gets out of the hospital. It's just some baka didn't tell the operation commander that I'm a tomboy and I don't do this shit!" she trailed off. Asuka blinked, realizing that she wasn't the only girl with a bad attitude in the room anymore! She pushed Jamie out of the way and marched down the hall to wherever she was going. Jamie stepped out of the way so Rei could pass before following the blue-haired girl... 

********************* 

"This is General Anderson, who the fuck is it?" said a huge man on a monitor in Gendo's office. He was wearing a black trench coat a green beret and an Israeli gas mask of all things. 

"It's Ikari. We need assistance..." Gendo said reluctantly. Colonel Drake lit a cigarette then said to the monitor 

"He's right. We were just attacked by a Russian Alfa X. The Evangelion unit 01 was cut down by a single hit from it's railgun. It's my recommendation that we initiate a code 4211." 

"Why the fuck not? Gendo, I'm placing colonel Drake in charge of all fuckin' NERV operations. You are now second in command to him, you will follow his fuckin' orders. You are still in operational command of NERV, but you WILL follow his fucking orders!" 

"Yes sir." Gendo replied. "Is there anything else?" 

"We're sending reinforcements. You can expect help to arrive in four days. That's fucking all for now, QC out." the monitor went black. Gendo turned in his seat to face the Colonel. 

"So, anything that I should know?" 

"Yes, prepare to counterattack the Alfa as soon as repairs to Unit 01 are complete and it's pilot has recovered. Until then..." The colonel turned and walked out of the office. As soon as the door shut Gendo slammed his fist into the desk and he muttered several curses. His command had been snatched right out from under his nose and there wasn't anything he could do about it! 

******************** 

Shinji woke with a start. He jumped up in the recovery bed, not realizing that the doctors had stripped him of his clothes! He quickly realized this and pulled the bed sheets over himself before looking over and seeing that both Rei and Asuka were in the room! There was also another girl in the room who looked a few years older and was chewing gum. 

"Well Shinji, how's your balance?" the strange girl asked. 

"I feel allright... Who are you anyway?" 

"I'm Corporal Jamie Sanders. I've been assigned to babysit you and your two friends here. Well get some clothes on and let's get going. Your commanders just told me that you're counterattacking in an hour." Jamie and the other two pilots walked out of the room so Shinji could dress in privacy. As he put on his clothes he realized that he had a large bandage over his right ear and he couldn't hear a thing out of it! He finished dressing and walked out into the hallway just as Jamie popped another square of gum into her mouth. 

"You got any more of that?" Asuka asked. Jamie said nothing but reached into her fatigue pocket and handed Asuka a box labeled 'Nicorette.' "On second thought, never mind..." 

"Tell me about it... This stuff tastes like shit! Well we don't have time to waste. Let's get going." 

********************* 

Ten minutes later the pilots were preparing to enter the Evas. They had just put on their plug suits and were about to enter the Entry plug when the ground shook again. Not quite as bad as before, but bad enough to raise the concerns of everyone in the Geo Front. Meanwhile up in the control room Gendo was nowhere to be seen. Where he usually sat Colonel Drake now sat, smoking another cigarette and looking over the situation. Fuyutsuki, who was right next to him, gave an annoyed glance before stating 

"Sir, the Evas are ready." 

"Good. Captain Katsuragi, you may proceed with the attack." Drake ordered. 

"Yes sir." Misato replied. She picked up the intercom and gave the order... "EVA LAUNCH!" 

***** 

The Evas suddenly shot up in the launching tubes. All three pilots braced themselves for both the sudden stop and the inevitable attack of the enemy. Seconds later all three Evas emerged from the hatches in the streets, and immediately disengaged from their restraints and took cover. The huge Alfa stood in the middle of the First District like a soldier on top of a bare hill. Vulnerable, and yet hard to reach. The pilots knew well that their rifles were totally ineffective against it's armor, so Asuka spoke up. 

"Allright, we go in and hit that with our prog knives, retreat, wait fifteen seconds, and repeat the cycle. We'll remain on external power unless it interferes with the attack. Got it?" 

"Understood..." Rei replied. 

"Let's just hope this works..." Shinji mumbled. 

"It's going to work! ATTACK!!!" In that instant Asuka jumped over the building she was hiding behind and leapt at the Alfa, swinging her progressive knife at it and slicing it's arm! Shinji and Rei charged up and stabbed the Alfa almost simultaneously, causing a brilliant shower of sparks but not much else. The progressive knives cut through the Alfa's armor like butter, but were too short to hit anything inside... Suddenly Drake's face popped up on the communicator and he said 

"You have three minutes to defeat the Alfa. It's preparing to attack NERV with a surface-piercing nuclear weapon! Destroy it immediately!" His image instantly disappeared from the screens. 

"You heard him! What are we waiting for?" Asuka demanded. She swung again, hitting a bundle of cables and causing a massive explosion, sending her Eva flying! It sailed through the air for over three miles before the cable stopped it from going any further, at which point it just crashed to the ground. 

"NYYYYYYYYYGGGHHH!!" Shinji yelled, He stabbed the progressive knife into the hole the explosion had caused, embedding the Eva's arm up to the elbow in the mechanical monster! He wildly twisted his Eva's wrist around, shredding the contents of the Alfa. Without any warning a series of explosions ripped through the Alfa, engulfing both it and the Evas in a ball of fire! The Alfa blew apart at the seams, sending pieces of metal screaming through the air. What was left of the Alfa's skeleton fell to the ground in a molten lump! 

"What?!? You beat it without me? Idiot! When we get back to the Geo Front you're gonna hear it from me mister!" Asuka yelled. 

********************** 

Drake looked down at his watch. Fifteen seconds longer and the Alfa would've fired it's deadly payload into the Geo Front and they all would be dead. He lit another cigarette and stood up, then walked silently to Gendo's office. He walked up to the desk where Gendo was seated and said 

"The threat is eliminated. Your son did the honors." 

"Good work. I've already got Anderson on the line." He turned the monitor to face Drake, who motioned for Gendo to leave the room. As soon as Gendo was gone Drake started talking. 

"Sir, the Alfa X has been destroyed. It is my recommendation that we bring Timber Wolf into the country along with the reinforcements your already sending. Is that acceptable?" 

"Abso-fucking-luteley. When my fuckin' reinforcements arrive I'll fuckin' be placing Major Adams in charge of the mother-fuckin' SDF, with you as his CO. Any fuckin' questions?" 

"Yes, how many enemy ICBMs have we shot down so far?" 

"247 fuckin' rockets. It seems former fuckin' president Bush's missile defense system works after all. Any-fuckin'-thing else?" 

"No. Thank you sir." Drake said while turning off the monitor. He let Gendo back into the room. 

"What was all of that about?" 

"Nothing. Our SDI system has shot down 247 missiles so far and the reinforcements will arrive in three days as planned. Now I have some pressing business to take care of. Good day." Drake stated, then he left the room. 

"Great... Why did they have to do this... 

To be continued... 

******************** 

AUTHOR'S NOTES: This is the first half of BOT1D Eva. Yes Drake is the Smoking Man from the X-Files, so don't even ask! It won't be long before I start work on part 2, so just wait for the end of the world!!! See ya on the other side. -QC 


	2. Arrival of the Timber Wolf

Body **"Betrayal of the 1st Degree"**

(N.G. Evangelion "B" version [subversion])

Chapter 2

**By Q.C. of {PpG}**

This fic has been rated R for content.

1st draft completion date: 9/25/01 

Final release date: 9/25/01 

Current revision number: 1 

Welcome to the second chapter of _Betrayal of the 1st Degree, N.G. Evangelion._ The story thus far is as follows: The Bomb is dropped on Moscow, causing an immediate retaliatory strike which was shot down by the SDI system. In the mean time NERV prepares for a Russian attack at the warning of Colonel Drake of C-Division. The Russians send an Alfa-X, which cripples Unit-01 with a railgun shot. A few hours later the Evas destroy the Alfa. In the mean time Gendo and Drake call General Anderson for help, who sends help which will arrive in four days. Finally, Drake secretly requests for the BM-25 "Timber Wolf" to be brought to Tokyo-III as a precautionary measure, and as a nuclear launch platform. This is where we left off, now on with the fucking show! 

*********************** 

The peaceful silence in mountains outside the still smoking Tokyo-III was suddenly interrupted by the noise of a massive engine as a shiny black Corvette Stingray rounded the last corner before parking at an overview. Gendo Ikari stepped out of the passenger side and peered down at the city to assess the damage with his own eyes. A few seconds later Colonel Drake got out of the driver side, lit a cigarette and stood next to Gendo. He took a look at the mountains before speaking up. 

"It's been close to 70 years since I last saw this country, and then it was only the sandy beaches on Iwo Jima. A lot has changed, between the War, modernization and the Second Impact." 

"Yes, a lot has changed. Mankind is now a better, purer race than it was. And now you've gone back to the ways of our ancestors, trying to conquer the world." 

"I'm doing my job. Now if you're done assessing the damage we'd better get back underground. It isn't safe for you to stand there..." As if to reinforce what Drake said a stray bullet hit a stone near Gendo's feet. Needless to say he quickly got in the car, as did Drake. It was just the beginning of a very long day, Drake thought, as he sped off back to Headquarters. 

********************** 

Hours later school let out as normal. The pilots said goodbye to their friends for the day and just as they were about to start walking home they spotted three marines standing near the front door chatting and smoking cigarettes. Corporal Sanders threw down her cigarette and walked over to the three pilots. 

"Hey! Want a free ride by any chance?" she said. The pilots nodded, and she led them to an all-black Camero parked at the curb. They climbed in, with Asuka sitting in the front (to avoid Rei) and Shinji and Rei in the back. Shinji looked over Jamie's shoulder at the dash, and was bewildered by the array of dials and controls. 

"What's with this?" he asked. 

"I don't know. I haven't driven this car yet, the Colonel parked it here this morning and ordered me to pick you up and take you home." Jamie took a quick look at the gauges and controls. "A 7-speed manual that redlines at 15,000 RPM? Let's see how this baby runs..." She turned the key and the whole car shook and roared to life. 

"_Shienza!_ I hope it's not going to be like this the whole way." 

"Same here..." Jamie said as she put it in first and popped the clutch. Instead of stalling the whole car flew foreword and the rear end dropped a full eight inches, throwing it's occupants back into their seats as if they'd been hit by a battering ram! Before she even had to shift the car was well over the speed limit, and the tires were still spinning! 

"Idiot! Are you trying to kill us?" Asuka yelled. 

"No, I've never driven a car with a 750 cubic inch engine before! Now roll down your windows, it's too damn hot in here!" 

"I think I'll take my chances walking tomorrow..." Shinji said while rolling down his window. 

"I don't think you're gonna have much of a choice! Now someone find that plug-in lighter for me." 

******************** 

They soon arrived at Misato's apartment without incident. As soon as they got out of the car Jamie popped the trunk and pulled out a long case and a military ammo can. She slammed the trunk closed and said 

"Hey Shinji, you carry this for me." as she tossed him the can. He caught it and it's sheer weight almost knocked him to the ground! 

"Ow! What's in this thing?" he said. 

"100 rounds of .50 caliber ammo. So don't drop it!" Jamie followed Shinji and Asuka up to their room. Rei also followed, as she'd been ordered to stay until the immediate crisis was cleared up. Misato wasn't there when they arrived, so they let themselves in and settled in. The first thing Shinji did was to put down the heavy can! Jamie immediately sat down and opened the case, and pulled out a huge black metallic rifle with a hexagonal stock and a large scope, and inserted a proportional magazine into the receiver. She leaned it up against the wall. 

"What the hell is that thing? I've never seen a gun like _that_ before!" Asuka exclaimed. 

"This is my Barrett M82A1 .50 caliber sniper rifle. I'm also supposed to stay here and protect you." Jamie explained. 

"Okay then Corporal Tomboy!" Asuka joked before ducking into the bathroom. 

"Damn... This is going to take some getting used to..." 

********************* 

Down in the Geo Front things were just beginning to return to normal when the status board lit up like a Christmas tree. Everyone was running in circles trying to figure out what was going on. 

"What's going on?" Gendo demanded. 

"We have an incoming object, range 500 kilometers, altitude 18,000 meters, speed 1800 knots." Maya called out. 

"Is it an Angel?" 

"No sir, it's too big!!!" Yuga yelled. 

"Then what is it?" Gendo calmly asked. _Could it be? No, that's impossible!_

"I don't know, all our scans bounce off, but it's emitting an American transponder code. It is heading directly for us!" 

"It can't be! Someone find Colonel Drake immediately! I need an explanation!" 

The object continued towards Tokyo-III. It wasn't long before NERV had a visual. It appeared to be a huge black mecha with cannons for arms. As it approached the air shook violently. It slowed and landed a mere 40 kilometers from the city. Even at that range it appeared huge, as it was over a mile tall! Finally Drake walked up to Gendo and said 

"I trust you recognize that toy?" 

"Yes I recognize it, but I never recall you saying anything about bringing THAT into Japan! Just how many missiles are on it anyway?" 

"Sir, what is it?" Maya asked. 

"That is Timber Wolf. The BM-25C, man's deadliest creation. And for your information that's 40 nuclear MIRVs and 100 tomahawk cruise missiles, as well as a million tons of ammunition and bombs. More than double the amount of firepower required to duplicate the Second Impact! Your promised reinforcements have arrived." Drake said with an evil grin on his face... 

********************** 

Meanwhile in the command center of the massive mecha things were almost as hectic as they were in Central Dogma. At the center of the relatively small rectangular room was a proportional table, and sitting at the head of the table was a middle-aged man with dark hair and a scar under his right eye wearing an Admiral's uniform. Hanging on the chair behind him was a black trench coat adorned only by an American flag patch. He leaned foreword in his seat and said 

"Okay, make certain not to land on any of our forces. Also, send Adams to old Tokyo to take care of the SDF." 

"Yes sir, anything else" 

"Yes, this time leave something for the Navy to shoot dammit!" the Admiral ordered. 

"I think we can manage that. Also we have orders from Drake to undock our Dire Wolf as soon as we have a chance." 

"Understood. Take care of it." Just as the Admiral was beginning to relax an Italian-looking man wearing Nike clothes carrying a couple huge containers of Chinese food barged into the room and blurted out 

"One extra extra large chicken fried rice for Admiral Kelley!" as he carefully threw the boxes so they landed in front of the disgusted-looking Admiral. 

"Thank you BrokenBoard, now I don't need any of you V-Division clowns in my command center!" The Italian quickly left, allowing the Admiral to sigh. _Why do those bastards have to deliver this delicious food at such bad times?!?_

__

_********************_

__

__Back in Central Dogma things had gone from startled to insane. Everyone was scrambling to keep things in order even though twenty armed men wearing black canvas jackets with a large gray letter "E" on the back had just entered the room and secured all critical positions. A heavily muscled man walked up to Drake with a locked titanium briefcase, which he quickly opened and presented to the Colonel. Drake removed it's contents; a sheaf of papers and a black laptop computer adorned by the "IBM" logo. As the muscular man left Drake looked over the papers and then lit them on fire. 

"The nuclear launch will take place in 12 hours. Until then I am in direct control of NERV and the nation of Japan. Upon completion of this operation you have six months to complete the Human Instrumentality Project and/or defeat the Angels, at which point you are to relinquish the Evangelion unit 0 and it's pilot to Area 51 at Groom Lake AFB for research. Are hope you find these terms acceptable because if you don't I'm under orders to kill everyone in this facility." Drake demanded while lighting a cigarette. 

"The terms are acceptable..." Gendo said reluctantly, and only because he didn't have a choice. 

"Good. We're bringing in our Dire Wolf urban assault mecha as a backup to the Evangelions, against any threat either Russian or Angel." 

"Your weapons are useless against the Angels, it's AT-field is impenetrable."  
"Well thanks to our little prize from the Chicago incident we can generate our own AT-fields. And don't think those SEELE assholes didn't try to remove it from us, that's why we had them terminated. And to make things even more interesting, also order them to unload our new Tactical Evangelion..." 

"WHAT?!?" Gendo exclaimed in utter shock. 

"Do you really think that if you give us the plans and samples required to make units 3 and 4 we're gonna stop at that?" 

"But what about the pilots?" 

"We used our doppleganger computer technology to simulate a synchronized pilots, so anyone trained on a Dire Wolf movement translator can pilot the Tactical Evangelion... But you wouldn't be interested because it requires a completely different set of replacement parts. That and it has problems of it's own." Drake explained as Gendo watched the two mechas unloading from the gigantic BM-25 on the monitor. The first was very blocky like the BM-25 itself, but the second looked virtually identical to Unit 1, except for it had a urban camo color scheme and a Marine Corps logo on the shoulders. 

"If you hadn't already killed everyone else you'd never get away with this... How many of those did you make anyway?" Gendo demanded. 

"We've built 20 total. Any more would be too expensive. We require Unit 0 to get raw data to fix some of it's problems." Drake explained. 

"Dammit I'm getting sick of your little tricks and ruses! Next you're going to ask me to turn over the MAGI?" 

"Not quite, but we will be downloading all your files and transferring copies to our protected mainframes at Langley and Groom Lake. You've been very useful to the War Department. Thank you." Drake said as he took the laptop down to Melchior to begin the download. 

"Fuyutsuki, I've had just about enough of Drake. Why do they need enough firepower to destroy the entire world twice over just for our defense? Unfortunately there's nothing you and I can do about it. Take over for a few minutes, I need to get some air..." 

******************** 

Later that evening at Misato's apartment not much was going on. Rei was off in a secluded corner studying while Shinji and Asuka fought for control of the TV. Jamie sat back on the couch and watched with mild amusement while she lit the last cigarette in the pack. She was about to get up and steal one of Misato's beers when a small light by the door blinked. Her spine stiffened and she reached into her duffel bag... 

"Idiot! We're watching channel 17 and that's final!" Asuka yelled at Shinji, despite the fact that he was right next to her. 

"I got to it first! We're watching 34! Don't you even change it again!" Shinji yelled back. Suddenly he noticed Jamie pulled a .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol out of the duffel bag and took dead aim at the door. "What the..." 

"Quiet! There's someone outside, and I don't think he's the pizza delivery man." Jamie replied. Then suddenly she fired three rounds through the door, ran up, and opened the door. There was a large Russian man laying in a puddle of his own blood right outside! 

"You killed him!" Asuka gasped, having never seen such a gruesome death before. 

"Hey, am I gonna let that commie bastard kill you three? If you think you could do better you're more than welcome." Jamie mocked as she tossed Asuka the hot pistol while also taking a long drag off her cigarette. 

"On second thought, you did a good job." Asuka said sheepishly while trying to hand the gun to Shinji. 

"I don't want it! Why don't you just put it back in the bag?" Shinji asked. 

"Give me that!" Jamie said while grabbing her pistol back. "You may be Eva pilots but I don't trust you with a loaded gun, not yet anyway." 

"Well Tomboy, when you're right you're right... Now we're watching Channel 17, right?" Asuka asked. 

"Oh my God, not again..." 

********************** 

The next morning dawned just like the previous. Things were soon to change however, as a sneaky threat inched it's way towards Central Dogma so far undetected... 

"Sir, we're detecting something in Sector Alpha... Looks like superficial movement." Yuga reported. 

"And why are you bothering to tell me this?" Gendo demanded. 

"Well it just... SIR! I've just lost control over security!" 

"What? Have you gotten a positive reading on that signal yet?" 

"No sir, but I believe it's humans." 

"Excuse me Ikari, but I need to get something." Drake said before leaving the room. Suddenly the general alarm went off! Above the klaxons Maya managed to yell 

"Sir! We've been breached by the Russians! They managed to get 500 commandos into Headquarters without our knowledge!" 

"Damn! How close are they?" 

"They'll be here in five minutes! I can't seal off Central Dogma!" Maya screamed. Just then Drake walked back into the room with a huge black assault rifle that had a clip almost as big as the gun itself! 

"Okay Ikari, we're evacuating... You're too important to leave in a compromised area. Besides, I might need an ashtray later." Drake said while grabbing Gendo by the wrist and literally dragging him out of Central Dogma. The rest of the men in trench coats took defensive positions around the MAGI and the Cage. 

Gendo was now running headlong next to Drake as they made their way to the surface where his car was parked. As they reached the surface and made a mad dash for the parked Stingray a shot rang out! Gendo suddenly flinched as the bullet bit into his left shoulder Drake took aim in the general direction of the sniper and fired his massive rifle. The sound was like repeating thunderbolts as a spray of .50 caliber bullets tore towards the sniper! Drake didn't waste time confirming his kill, but instead helped Gendo into the car and jumped into the driver seat. 

"You're hit bad..." Drake stated as he tore the right sleeve off his trench coat. "Use this as a bandage until we reach the Timber Wolf. Now let's go!" he said while turning the key to the 'start' position. Like the Camero earlier the whole car shook and roared to life. Drake immediately floored it, leaving jet black skid marks as he screamed towards the BM-25 at 200 MPH. 

As Gendo bandaged his wound he looked at the emblem of an American flag on the coat sleeve. He then noticed that in tiny lettering under the flag was embroidered "United States Government C-Division; Col. Matthew Drake; #A4998-923484..." 

"United States Government C-Division..." Gendo muttered to himself. "You mean you've been using us all this time?" 

"Damn straight Gendo, you're fucked! The Instrumentality project is over, the Evas and everything else in NERV is now property of the Department of Defense. And if you don't like it I'll give you to the Russians myself!" 

********************** 

Jamie woke with a start because her pager was going off like crazy. She checked it, only to find out that it was the code that meant 'attack imminent, transport precious cargo to Timber Wolf Command." In other words the war had started and there was no time left to fuck around. She stood up and shook all three pilots awake. 

"Hey! It's only six in the morning!" Asuka complained. 

"Well you may not make it to noon if you don't get your ass in gear. The war's starting!" Jamie yelled. Neither of the other pilots complained as they got up and grabbed anything they may need in the next few hours. Jamie scooped up her Barrett and cocked in a shell before opening the door and leading the children to the parking lot. 

When they arrived Jamie opened the trunk of the Camero and reached inside. Before any of the children had a chance to ask any questions Jamie pulled out three Colt M16 rifles and distributed them amongst the children. She then handed them each a bandoleer of ammo and a bulletproof vest (that was about 5 sizes too large for them) and said "These are for your own protection... I don't care if you want to shoot at anyone or not, put on the vests and carry those rifles in a threatening manner! Got it?"  
"Yes mam!" Asuka said, showing even a hint of enthusiasm. 

"I.. I'll carry it." Shinji half-moaned while slipping on the Kevlar vest. Rei didn't say anything, she slipped on the vest and loaded the rifle like she'd done it a thousand times. 

"Good... I'll do any killing if it becomes necessary. Now we're gonna have to walk it, it's too dangerous to attempt to get there on the main roads."  
"Um, mam... Where are we going?" Shinji asked sheepishly while Jamie lit a cigarette. 

"Well, see that black mountain over there?" she said while pointing a finger at the massive BM-25. "The Marines have a base camp set up at it's feet, and that's where we're headed. Now we'd better get moving." Jamie took the point, now carrying the Barrett by the grips rather than it's shoulder strap. They silently walked almost halfway there, ducking behind bushes and cars for cover, without incident... 

Jamie peered around a street corner, checking for the distinct twinkle of a lens flare off a rifle scope. Sure enough, she saw it from the window of a building close to a mile down the street. She held her left hand in a "get back!" position, and rolled into a prone position, placing a mail box between herself and the sniper. She slowly got to her knees and extended the rifle's bipod legs which she rested on the top of the mailbox. Carefully observing the environment around her, she then carefully adjusted the telescope on her rifle to compensate for range and the slight crosswind. She then pushed the safety catch to the "fire" position and whispered "Put your hands on your ears, this thing's fucking LOUD!" 

"Right." All three said, before obeying. Jamie then placed the crosshairs right on the glint of the enemy's scope and held them there for 10 seconds, before squeezing the trigger back... The rifle let out a deafening CRACK and shot out a massive fireball, and knocked Jamie back several inches while sending the overlarge empty case towards the gutter. Quickly re-aquiring her target Jamie watched the closed part of the window suddenly turn red and a rifle fall out the window about four seconds after she pulled the trigger. 

"It's safe. Let's hurry on!" The pilots got in line behind Jamie and marched forewords. About a half hour later they arrived at the base camp, and there was another all-black Camero waiting at the perimeter. A man wearing a black trench coat got out and said "Eva pilots, you're needed at Headquarters." 

"Great, we just got here and we have to leave already!" Asuka said. 

"You don't have a choice about it BITCH! Now get in the mother-fucking car and shut the Sam hell up!" he yelled. All three pilots got in without saying another word... 

********************** 

The Admiral stood and saluted as Drake and Gendo walked into Timber Wolf Command. Drake checked a couple monitors before speaking up. 

"Well Commander Ikari, sit down. We just finished patching our mainframe into the MAGI and we have some disturbing news..." 

"Well?" Gendo demanded. 

"We've detected an unknown object approximately 300 miles to the southwest. We ran our scan reading through the MAGI, and they confirmed that it had a blue pattern... The target is now uncomfortably close to Hiroshima, especially considering the damage our countermeasures will do..." the Admiral explained. 

"Okay... I've made up my mind then. Load one of our Tomahawk missiles with a 5-megaton lithium-dutranium warhead and target the object. We'll deal with the Japanese government later." 

"Wait a minute! You're going to use a thermonuclear device on the Angel that close to a populated area?" Gendo said. 

"In one word, yes. Those bombs pack close to 90 times the firepower of a normal N2 mine, we might just vaporize the fucker. If not it'll give us time to deploy the Evangelions and the Tac Eva..." 

"Ummm, Colonel that might be a slight problem... Our pilot for the Tactical Evangelion was injured earlier, and is incapable of piloting it through hand-to-hand combat. You said yourself that you want to keep this operation in the Marine Corps, and only mecha pilots and special forces Raiders are trained on Class-A mechas. We're out of pilots and the only Raiders in the area are yourself and Corporal Sanders." the Admiral explained. 

"God dammit! Why today? Very well, inform Sanders of her new assignment. Now where's that missile?" 

"We're firing it now sir." Gendo watched the monitor as the missile fired out of the BM-25's shoulder and streaked off to the southwest. 

"Three minutes to detonation." the computer droned... 

****************** 

Jamie watched the three pilots enter the new Camero and drive off with the man in the black trench coat to NERV to board the Evas, when she suddenly heard the roar of a rocket being launched from a mile up. She watched the missile scream to the southwest. Three minutes later a blinding flash dominated the sky as the nuclear warhead detonated, vaporizing all for miles around. Moments later a man tapped her shoulder. 

"Corporal Sanders, you're under orders from Colonel Drake to pilot the Tac Eva. You are qualified, right?" 

"I took the simulator tests, but I've never actually piloted one. I'm a sniper with the Raiders, not a mecha pilot!" she replied. 

"Well they want a Marine to pilot it, and you're the only qualified marine who doesn't already have an assignment. I'm under orders to assist you in boarding the Tac Eva and starting it's systems." 

"Allright... I'll do it.... And I'll stop complaining if you give me a pack of cigarettes! I haven't had a smoke in 14 hours and I'm about to go fucking crazy!" 

"Fine! Take it!" he said, giving Jamie what was left of his pack. "Now let's get going." he said, leading her to a jeep. 

******************* 

Drake lit another cigarette as all the external sensors fizzled out. The Electromagnetic pulse from the nuke had disrupted all the electrical systems in the area, and blinded almost all the sensors in the southern half of Japan! Gendo stared at the image of the huge mushroom-shaped cloud of fire that was now becoming visible on a telescopic visual monitor. He was pretty sure of what he'd hear next, but rather than making assumptions he decided to wait... 

"Commander Ikari, it looks like you're gonna get your shot at it after all... We have only partial sensors but we have a reading on the Angel and it isn't good..." the Admiral stated. 

"Let's hear it." Gendo said. 

"Our hydrogen bomb managed to burn off 95% of the target, but we didn't kill it. Unfortunately it's behind enemy lines or we'd just drop the Evas on it and finish it off, but the MAGI estimate we have between 24 and 72 hours before it regenerates enough to attack again." 

"Damn. Well until we can secure the area I see no reason not to let you use the Evangelions to defend Tokyo-III against any threats. I'll remain here if I may as a consultant." Gendo mumbled. 

"Very well. You have your assignments. I'm going up to the cockpit to brief the pilots on our situation. Dismissed." Drake ordered before leaving. 

"Dismissed to where? There's just this room, the cockpit, and the small quarters downstairs. Not counting the troop transport area. And I'm damn hungry!" The admiral complained. As if on cue the Italian Nike man with his big bags of Chinese food ran into the room and threw a box of chicken fried rice at the Admiral, of course landing perfectly in front of him. He then looked at Gendo and dropped a box of plain fried rice in front of him and left a box of Mongolian beef on the table for Drake before saying "Here's your food, sirs." before leaving just as quickly as he'd arrived. 

"Who was that?" Gendo demanded. 

"He's with V-Division. They're kinda thick but they do know where to get good Chinese food. I hope you like it." 

"I guess it's allright..." he said while opening the box. "Now if you'll excuse me I've had a rather disturbing day..." 

"That makes two of us..." 

********************* 

Jamie sighed as she strapped herself into the movement translator harness in the Tactical Evangelion's cramped cockpit. The cockpit was only marginally larger than the standard entry plug, and despite the fact that she was a fairly small girl she was still bigger than a 14-year old kid! She finished connecting the harness, then grabbed the console keyboard and typed "init 6; eva entry-plug connect master-power connect restraint disconnect." The whole cockpit groaned and flickered to life as the giant robot came to life. She snickered as she looked at the steering wheel and 5-speed shifter before putting the Tac Eva into cruise mode, and moved it close to the city center before connecting it to a power cable like a normal Evangelion. She then got on the radio and said 

"Hey, I thought this thing was equipped with a micro-fusion power generator! Why did I just have to connect to external power to prevent shutdown?" 

"Well, we deactivated the fusion cell because it wouldn't be able to handle the impact of an Angel's attack. And if it breeches it'd make Hiroshima look like a firecracker!" Drake explained over the radio. 

"Okay... When do the other Evas arrive?" 

"Any time..." 

End of Chapter 2 

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Here we go again... Another cliffhanger ending. The Eva pilots are damn hard to write for. That explains their lack of involvement thus far. Sorry to you hardcore fans about the Tactical Evangelion, but honestly do you think the US government would pass up such a powerful weapon? As the endgame draws nearer and the tensions increase as the Evangelions will soon have to face an attack by both an Angel and the Russian army! Stay tuned, cause it ain't over yet! See ya on the other side. -QC 


End file.
